


Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Depths of Recollection

by Dust_Scout2048



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Drama, Gen, Legendary Pokemon, Modern Generation Pokemon (Gen 5 and Beyond), POV First Person, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Freeform, Tags may change over time, flash-forward
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:15:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26567182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dust_Scout2048/pseuds/Dust_Scout2048
Summary: For the land-dwelling mythical pokemon Zeraora, life had been rather isolated. That is until he has a chance meeting with an unusual Lugia offspring, who drags him to her seafloor hometown. Now effectively stranded in the city, the electric type must survive a week without making too many enemies out of the residents. Little does he know, this task will prove itself to be difficult, especially when he becomes the newest target of a sinister force that has hidden itself in the mystical metropolis.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Day 0

Despite what legends may say, there is a system to our lives...for better or worse. When it comes to us mythicals especially, we’re basically bound by a contract. This contract is meant to keep us all in check during our long life-span. While there are many MANY rules to follow, there are only a few that apply to everyone. First, never venture outside of your decreed area unless absolutely necessary, whether it's on land, under the sea, or elsewhere. Second, fulfill your purpose in order to keep the world’s balance. Last and “most importantly of all”, never associate with the common folk before or during your time of purpose; that’s anyone like a Pikachu or anything that is not a legendary. Personally, I don’t get the last rule. Aren’t they the ones we try to protect? I always asked that, but nobody really wants to answer.


	2. Prologue: Contract

###  **_10 Years (1 Myth-Year) Ago..._ **

Today was the day I would become bound by my contract. One hundred years wasn't exactly an optimal age for a Zeraora like myself to be under contract; sadly, the system had to make an exception in my case. My predecessor left this existence when I was but a small hatchling. In some ways, I wondered if I was a burden to these folks because of the circumstances.

I entered a private room within one of those remote cave systems. The room really didn’t stand out much at all. The only objects there were the essentials, a table, several candles and vents, and a singular chair. The reason? The contractor I was meeting was Zygarde in all his serpent glory. Next to him was a canine pokemon colored in his likeness. I heard Zygarde had servants of some kind, but it struck me as weird to see them with my own eyes. With a little anxiety, I sat at the table while still maintaining eye contact; it was kind of hard to do that since he had multiple hexagons for eyes.

Without hesitation, the serpent began to speak in an almost robotic tone. “Let us begin by saying, congratulations. You have proven yourself to be useful. Both by combat and from what your guardian has told me.” The serpent proceeded to lean over the table with what I think is a serious glare. Seriously, does he not want anyone reading his expression? “I- We are however, a little anxious about your mentality” he said.

I shrank back in my seat. “What do you mean?” I asked nervously.

“It’s simple,” Zygarde stated as he straightened. “Being as young as you are, we worry that you may act in a...defiant way. Nevertheless, we will grant you your contract.” 

The serpent gave a quiet whistle before the canine used its scarf thing to take hold of something. Raising the scarf upward, the canine showed a coiled scroll that unwound itself on the table in front of me. At the edge of this contract was a small feather quill. “As you were told many times, you will sign away your nickname and be referred to as your species name, Zeraora.”

I barely listened as I eagerly grabbed the quill with my right hand. As I did so, the canine stopped me by wrapping its scarf around my right wrist tightly, causing me to flinch and nearly drop the quill. I glanced at Zygarde, who was now glaring at me. “(sigh) I must be clear with you on this,” the serpent calmly explained, now most likely staring into my eyes. “You must know that as a mythical, as a legendary, you are to take responsibility for all of your actions. Do you understand?”

I pressed my teeth together as I processed the guardian’s words. This was no longer training, I was going to be given the sacred duty of preserving the world’s balance alongside everyone else. I’ve always known that, I’ve been told that all my life. Nevertheless, I nod with a serious expression. The canine loosened its grip and freed my hand. I was pretty sure they bought it.

I skimmed through the fine print. The text was hardly impressive; there were a lot of rules, simple procedures and duties to perform, and finally there were the laws that applied to every legendary, whether it would be a time-space deity or someone as carefree as Victini. At the bottom was just the dotted line that would become the catalyst for my new life. I signed my nickname before putting down the quill.

When I was finished I took one last look of the name I signed away, Galvan. Galvan, the name my own guardian called me during my younger years. Something made me wince as I stared at the name; it was a very slight bit of movement, but evident nonetheless. My thought was interrupted as the paper rolled itself back up. There was no turning back now, the life I knew before was over. From that point onward, Galvan was dead and in his place stood myself. My name was now Zeraora the Fourth, mythical pokemon of the Electric type.

Afterwards, Zygarde dismissed me from the room and I left without another word. To be honest, though it was sad to see my old life go away, but at the same time, I figured it was the beginning of something great. I thought, (“That was rather grim, but you know what? I’ll just take the job with pride! Yeah! This is meant to be a good thing”). With that thought in mind, I began to dash, eager to see what awaited me in my new life.

###### 

###### 

###  _**Present Day...** _

As I laid down to rest for the night, I thought about the day I first went under contract. I couldn't believe I used to act so differently before. I then sighed and thought to myself, (“What a fool I was for thinking that. Pitiful...just pitiful”).

One would think someone who’s a century old would be a little more mature, but no...no, that’s not how life works for a mythical, let alone a legendary. Though we age more slowly than the common folk, that slowed speed also applies to our maturity. More accurately, the slow legendary aging process varies by species. Some like the time-space deities get a free pass either because they are _way_ too important or they have no foreseeable end to their lifespan **(hard to say if that’s a good thing)**. Then there are folks like myself who eventually bite the dust **(which is almost everybody else)**.

Even still, our lifespans are so long that those of us mortal ones decided to invent a new measure for our age. Myth-years, that was the measure we **(Zekrom)** decided for ourselves. **(Really though, it’s just a fancy way of saying decades, but nobody wants to admit that because of their “pride as legendaries.” Freaking Zekrom! Just admit it’s stupid already!)** Nevertheless, 100 years is really the measure’s “equivalent” to a 10-year-old. It’s not that accurate in the grand scheme of things; a Lugia at the age of 100 years is really about 26 in terms of the common folk, while a Zeraora at that age is about 16; it doesn’t really excuse my behavior though. Special care and maturity on the job is vital. One wrong move and the consequences are catastrophic, both for the perpetrator and the world. Now is an especially tense time with the rise of natural disasters in the Air Continent.

To think I thought this duty would be fun. Nonetheless, I was proven wrong and that’s it. Nothing more, nothing else mattered but one thing, the purpose I was given. Looking back at the past was just asking for trouble. Sure, that made me a bit distant, but it was for the better.

All I needed was a little distance while I did my job in the shadows. That was what we're supposed to be doing after all, so nobody else would get hurt.

### 

### 

###  _Fragment of Knowledge:_

****_Contract of Purpose:_

> Even before common folk began recording history, all legendaries were required to be bound to their duty and purpose through the use of this sacred contract. This measure was created in order to ensure all of the legendaries stay within their assigned domain (Land, Sea, Sky, etc.) and preserve the balance of the world. To complement the vast variety of life-styles, mortal legendaries and mythicals are required to sign away their nickname of youth as a symbol of inheriting the duty and purpose of their predecessor. This contract makes organizing the historic records of legendaries convenient with the use of numbers. However, the numbers are only assigned to those born after the invention of these contracts (Predecessors born before are left unrecorded as a result).


	3. Chapter 0: An Unexpected Encounter

###  _**Present Day...** _

For the past nine years, I have been performing my duty with great care and in a nomadic fashion **(living off the wild more or less)**. For me, my duty involved the management of storms **(yes, storms)**. From thunderstorms to typhoons, I had to be there to make sure they don't go out of hand. Granted, I wasn’t among the main folks that did the deed of making storms or anything, those folks would be Tornadus, Thundurus, and Zapdos in the most common cases. Obviously, I wasn't a flying type at all. Heck, some folks wouldn't even recognize me since I was so obscure in terms of mythical status. No, I was what some may call the substitute. I guess that was sort of a blessing since most folks wouldn’t be bowing in respect on sight **(I never was one for those types of formalities anyways, despite it being a must for every mythical legendary)**.

The only good benefits of being Zeraora were two things. One, you won't get distracted on the job very often. The second and more prominent aspect is that the superiors keep you on more relaxed rope. As one can guess, I liked the second aspect far more, it gave me a little time to think for myself.

Thinking about why or how the world reached its current state, was an act frowned upon by the higher ups. It was always purpose this and purpose that. Everybody agreed to this contract-like line of thinking, myself unfortunately included.

Despite this, I always had the strangest dreams, dreams of a very different body **(at least from what could be recalled)**. These dreams always felt connected in the essence of chapters. Some were wonderful, while others featured hardships. Oddly enough, these dreams felt personal and precious. I couldn't understand why, none of it made sense. For the longest time, I tried to bury these thoughts whenever I could. No, that's not right, I was encouraged to do so **(albeit indirectly)**. Yet nowadays, folks wanted me to "open up." How could I explain any of it? How could I comprehend why no Psychic-Type can read my mind? Who could understand the pain I still felt from that...horrible nightmare? The thoughts and opinions I had are mine. Nothing could change that. That's the way it should be.

However, when that youngling appeared that day, everything changed.

###### 

###### 

It was a work day like any other, aside from the fact that Zapdos decided to take _yet another nap_ **(that takes forever to finish)**. So, I had to make up his work in the Sea of Wonders **(just lovely)**. The routine for storms was so dull. It’s always “make storm.” “Fire lighting here.” “Make some thunder there.” I tried to maintain my patience, but hearing that Zapdos decided to neglect his tasks AGAIN was the final straw. I can’t remember if it was just because of my sheer frustration at the news or if it was years of bottled-up rebelliousness that I decided, against my better judgement, to implement a new strategy of my own. I would base it off of one the dreams I had, which involved some type of dance. Why a dance? Honestly, I had no idea. These dreams were so annoyingly frequent! If someone I knew had to deal with such random dreams for basically half a century _and_ not be able not talk about them, I can imagine them being quite irritable. **(Correction: not just cranky, but livid.)** Needless to say in a long story made short, I had enough and gave in at long last.

If I were any of my predecessors, I would have most likely steered myself far, FAR away from any type of dance. Us Zeraoras were known to be fighters, not dancers.

On the subject of dancing, the first type of dance I could think of was a ballet. There were two reasons for this. The first was that I admired Meloetta's skills in music. Her favorite dances were always in line with the ballet method. Plus, I only knew slow and graceful dances anyways. The only ones who knew of my secret admiration were Diancie and Meloetta, whose dwellings were far enough away from the Sea of Wonders. So, they wouldn't notice my antics right away. The second reason was that ballet worked best with the flow of a rainstorm. Any other type would either be too chaotic or too irregular, making the others suspicious. Getting monitored by the higher ups was the last thing I wanted; besides, there was no way I would try dancing in front of anyone, not with my lack of experience.

Hence, why I had the bright idea to do it during my job. Why not? Everyone in the area would be scared to come out during the storm, every other storm maker is elsewhere, and Arceus certainly wouldn't mind considering he's busy with his so-called "more important business" **(whatever that meant)**. Therefore, no one would even notice me if I did just one simple dance...I had no idea how wrong I was.

It was the early morning when I put my plan into motion. I stood on the shore of one of the islands. I briefly gripped the looplet wrapped around the upper part of my left arm before taking deep breaths to ease my anxiety. I was nervous since I was about to do something that would have been extremely embarrassing in public. I recalled what Meloetta and Diancie taught me about the art of ballet. 

(Diance’s Voice: “Dancing would just be mindless prancing without the context found in music.”) 

(Meloetta’s voice: “Music commands the flow, feeling, and pace of a dance. With just the right tempo, even a simple set of notes can become quite alluring.”)

With a simple preparation pose, I began to use Rain Dance, a skill I was forced to learn for the dull storm management. **(Apparently, ancient predecessors of mine didn't normally learn this attack.)** Regardless, the storm slowly stirred itself. Rain began to pour in the area. This was when I utilized Discharge to whirl lightning around myself during the Rain Dance. Once enough charge was made, I used my power to direct the lighting toward the storm clouds. With that done, the clouds charged themselves up; they were now under my control.

At this point, my job normally demanded that I would periodically discharge the clouds and monitor their activity. This time around, I decided to super charge them in order to create make-shift music makers. The song I would use would come from the dream I based this plan on. Reflecting on this, perhaps I wanted some closure on the dreams that bothered me for so long; or maybe I was desperate to relive the innocent joy I lost. Or maybe it was something more. I couldn’t put a finger on it exactly.

Regardless, I played the memorized melody from my mind and projected it into the clouds though electrical signals. The storm then broke into a symphony of notes, which entangled my body into a complex, yet natural ballet. Each step drove me closer to the water’s edge. Eventually, the music’s pace rose, sending my body off the shore. I use my speed and sparks to skip and slide across the raging ocean waves, which enhanced the melody surprisingly. As I remained enticed by the song, I thought about what I was doing. There was no way I could have done this without practice, yet I felt like I've done this for years. I knew I felt like an oddball, but this was different. I regained a sense of pride and joy I was missing. I never felt more...alive. The feeling was addicting, which was probably why time passed by too quickly.

As I continued my ballet, an unexpected sight caught the corner of my eye during one of my slides. I turned my head to see a small, bird-like creature peeking their head above the waves nearby. 

The color drained from the fibers of my fur upon seeing this **(one could call it a powerful surge of pure embarrassment)**. (“L-Lugia?!?”) I thought. But upon further observation, I noticed something odd about the figure. It was way too small to be the Lugia, yet the shapes of the head and neck certainly looked the part. This all led to a new line of questionable thought, (“Is that a youngling? If so, what the heck is it doing here?!? How long was it watching?”). I had no time to consider these thoughts now, as I realized that I might have let this storm go on for far too long at this rate of intensity.

Wasting no time, I ditched theatrics and ran toward the nearest island with a decent-sized mountain. My mind was no longer focused on the youngling, what mattered was stopping this storm. I remembered that keeping a storm on the ocean for too long did…something bad. I couldn't recall what or why though. I sprinted for a while before finding a good place. It was a small island, but it at least had a high-enough mountain

After easily climbing the mountain, thanks to my lightning-fast running speed, I took some deep breaths before charging up some power. I use Discharge once more on the clouds. Ending a storm was tricky, but easy to do when one is strong with the lightning element. Disrupt the connecting signals, make a small air blast to push the clouds, and bam! The storm will disperse itself in no time. I made the clouds blast themselves apart **(it was kind of an emergency stop procedure)**. Within prolonged moments, the storm clouds began to disperse, eventually becoming a clear blue horizon once more.

I checked the position of the sun. My storm was only supposed to last until just before mid-day. Judging by the sun’s position, it was now mid-afternoon daylight. My storm lasted twice as long than it should have. From my position, I looked toward the shore of the island in order to assess the damage. It didn’t seem too bad; so I thought a slightly longer storm didn't hurt anything. At the same time, I had a sinking feeling that I was forgetting something I heard about. Regardless, I sighed in relief and then decided to sit where I was for a little while since the ordeal left me rattled.

As I stared blankly from the ocean-edge cliff, I thought to myself, ("I shouldn't have done that, what got into me?"). I sighed and muttered to myself, "Calm down Zeraora, I might be overreacting a little. Just get out of the area and don't speak of it." As I got up and turned around, my worst fears came true. 

That same Lugia was standing right behind me just...staring, with a starry-eyed look. Now that I had a good look at it, there was no doubt it was a youngling. The size difference was clear, its head was barely lower than my shoulder height. Either way, there was a long and awkward silence, at least on my end. The little one on the other hand, had an eerily joyful look on its face, with a slight hint of curiosity.

I had to ask how long she was witnessing the scene, but the words just wouldn't come out. I mean anyone else would have just moved on, but this one, it was drawn to me almost. I tried to ask, "uhh, ummm. H-How long have you been-" However, the youngling interrupted with her voice. She was clearly a girl based on the higher pitch, but I couldn’t process words. I thought it was a question, but as she asked, the world in my vision warped. My head just started to hurt with the most painful migraine and my ears started to ring. The youngling spoke again, but this time with concern. This only made the pain worse, forcing me to stumble backwards. My mind then flashed images rapidly, both new and from my dreams. There were far too many to count. At the pain’s peak, I heard a scream before everything went black; oddly enough, I didn’t feel the ground as I heard this scream, but I was incapable of thinking about it now.

###### 

###### 

As I laid unconscious in the darkness, I felt like the once pleasant dreams become nightmares that began to drag me down into the drowning abyss. I began to choke almost...wait choking? I tried to gasp, but no air came in. A thought hit my mind, ("I'M DROWNING!"). I exhaled and grabbed any type of breath I could **(it wasn't very much of a breath at all as I held my mouth shut)**. 

As I opened my eyes, I noticed where I was. I was underwater, not just under water, I was far below the surface and moving downward at a rapid pace. I tried to move, but I found myself restrained. Looking around frantically, I noticed I was held in place by wings. I could think of one thing, the youngling. She must have dragged me down here. Why would she do that?!? It was unbelievable that she would do this. Did she seriously not know I can’t breath underwater? Regardless, only my right arm was free and I had no way of squirming my way out **(well, no way that wouldn't hurt the little one)**. Even if I lacked the decency, there's no way I can survive down here. The surface was far too high up now and I could barely call myself a swimmer. All I could do was firmly grasp my mouth.

Mere moments became minutes of agony. My lungs began to heat up in the stress, demanding me to exhale and give them new air. Drowning really was among the worst possible ways to die. I felt my breath beginning to fade away as the two of us neared the seafloor’s darkness. At that point, I had no choice but to close my eyes, and pray the youngling was going to take me to a place with actual air. I felt the pace of the swimming beginning to pick up. The youngling began to speak out loud once, but words sadly could not be processed since the migraine appeared again. I gritted my teeth at this. As hard as I fought, I inevitably lost consciousness. My last thought played out as I felt something similar to a wave of energy, (“So, this is how it ends.”).

There was nothing at first, but then a warm and small light appeared in my vision. I heard an unknown, but oddly familiar voice speak up in a whisper, “No not yet.” After a flash of light, the darkness crept in once more.

###### 

###### 

After what felt like forever, I began to feel something again. The weight of water was no longer present; in fact, there was a bit of a cold breeze. Air was the first thing that came to mind. Upon feeling this, I saw a fairly bright light as I opened my eyes. Then my other instincts came in. I proceeded to roll over, gag, and then cough up water. I was on all fours as I coughed and gasped for a while; there must have been a lot of water in my system. Eventually, I began to breathe in and savor the new air. It was a bit bit of struggle at first; in addition to having that salty scent found in seaside areas, the air felt unusually cool and humid. In some ways, I was breathing cold, but vaporized sea water. Regardless, once my breathing finally steadied itself, I sat on the ground; I still couldn't get up, but being alive was more than enough. **(Good grief that was too close.)**

The immediate area resembled a dock. The floor I sat on was hard, yet oddly smooth. It certainly didn’t feel like any dock-like structure I’ve seen on the surface. It wasn’t rock, nor was it wood. It felt more like, (“Plastic…Wait, plastic?!? What the heck is plastic?”). I shook my head assuming I was in some sort of dizzy spell.

A state of panic suddenly came over me. **("The Looplet!")** I grabbed my left arm to find that the looplet was still stuck tight on my arm. An overwhelming sense of relief came over me knowing I didn’t lose that treasure. **(Wouldn't know what to do if it was lost. It was too precious of a reminder of what was important.)**.

I laid on the ground and gazed at the sky...or at least i thought it was the sky; I saw the bright light, but something felt off. The sun wasn’t round at all. No, the light source seemed...linear, scattered even. I glanced away toward the edge of the port and noticed that the horizon had a transparent look to it.

As I saw this wonder, the Lugia offspring came into view, seemingly breathing a sigh of relief. Upon seeing her, I picked myself up. Standing was still impossible. The cool air in conjunction with my wet fur didn’t help either; this combination made me visibly shiver.

She spoke and I was finally able to properly hear her words, "Y-you’re alive?!? You’re actually alive!!! I- I thought- But the whole-” She seemed overjoyed for some reason, she stammered until her words were basically impossible to hear. She seemed to be tearing up. Sadly, I couldn’t help, but look confused. Even more confusing is that her voice no longer affected me in any way; though the headache was still present, it no longer worsened. The most confusing part of it all was what she did afterwards. She clutched me in a slightly warming, tight hug, as one would with a most precious child. I didn’t react at all, how could I? We just met. Maybe she was worried that I passed away during the trip. Right...the trip, how did I survive? I could have sworn I drowned.

Sensing the awkwardness I assume, the youngling backed away to wipe her tears. She eventually shook her head before speaking up. “I-I uh...I mean I was a little worried that you were down for the count. You see uh, I tried to drag you over to this place casually when Wailord saw me with you. Then he panicked telling me you couldn't breath in the ocean like everyone else. So in a panic I was like, 'AAHHHH!' and I then whooshed you down here as quick as I could. Good thing you screwed up the ocean currents like that because you know…” She then smiled nervously, “...that would have been reeeaaal bad. Hehe."

I only stared at her in confusion before saying, "um...thank you?" I couldn’t even begin to understand what she meant. There was too much information to process.

Before I could ponder more, a roaring shout sounded out from nearby. "Young one! What is the meaning of this?" The shout echoed authority, making it easy to recognize.

("Is that the actual Lugia this time?") I thought. **("No...that can't be right. It had to be someone else...right?")** The realization then settled in; I wasn’t on the surface. I was in some sort of underwater domain. I broke a taboo, the taboo of wandering outside of my decreed area **(my case being land generally)**. Legendaries were _never_ to interfere in the affairs of or even enter areas outside of their major domain. I just broke that decree, which is a critical offense in every way. Sure, I wasn’t a fan of the system, but even I understood that carelessly entering a major domain outside of their own could easily throw the world out of balance. It wasn’t just me at risk here either, the youngling is also at fault too. Regardless of the reason, we were both in severe trouble.

Whoever thought that one simple act could throw so much out of balance. What could I do? **("What could _we_ do?")** How could we even explain this to anyone? Either way, the whirling sound of air was coming closer. So, I had no choice but to stand up and turn around. From this point onward, I was no longer someone important that should be respected, I was what the likes of Kyorge would call, "An Impious Intruder." An impious intruder with a nasty headache and nowhere to run.

### 

### 

###  _Fragment of Knowledge:_

_Zeraora (the Fourth):_ **  
**

**Decreed Areas:** Land and Coastal Area

**Age:** 11 Myth-Years (111 Years)

**Former Nickname:** Galvan

> He is the youngest recorded Zeraora bound by a Contract of Purpose. Orphaned at hatchling age, he was raised by another mythical and was carefully trained in the ways of mythical pokemon. Although he at first had a rather shaky start, both during training and his first year of duty, he’s garnered a favorable reputation as a hard worker among the mythicals. With his lightning-quick running speed and ability to control electricity, he is a formidable fighter as well. Despite all of these positives, he has been known, for the past nine years, to isolate himself from everyone (even other legendaries), unless it’s for business and assignments. This behavior has made him virtually unknown in the eyes of the public, save for a few settlements and rumors. The only ones that seem close to him in today’s times are Meloetta and Diancie and even they admit he’s distant, always moving. (Quote from Diancie: “He never sticks around for very long, even when visiting either of us. You would be lucky if he stays in one spot for a moment more than a night’s worth of rest; even for Meloetta and I, such a stay from him is becoming more rare. In all honesty, we're both worried about him.”)


	4. Chapter 1: In Boiling Water

My initial guess was correct. The voice came from a giant, white, and bird-like creature; they even had a hint of pseudo dragon within their physical traits. **(Yep, that’s Lugia without a doubt.)** The voice sounded male, so most likely she-, I mean he was currently male. Either way, I was as good as sunk.

Legendaries, according to the common folk, have their own specialties. That was the definition most would use to differentiate us from others. It was more than just that though; our lives, including the habitats we live in, revolved around these specialties. We were strictly forbidden to interfere in the affairs of domains not designated as a part of our own. So for instance, land-based legendaries are not to tread in areas of the ocean depths unless they were on a special assignment, which was rare. My case was no different, just me being here was a taboo in of itself. This rule was to prevent further imbalance during a potential time of crisis in one area. If such a case happened, the system would allow an exception for a nearby legendary to assist. That was why “...unless absolutely necessary” was written on the fine print of everyone's contracts. Times like that were bound to happen; unfortunately, this was not one of those times.

Lugia flew over to my position and landed, shaking my footing in the process. “Zeraora! Do you have any idea what you’ve done up there?” Lugia said with rage.

There were still too many thoughts running through my head at the time, thus I only stuttered, “I uh-”

“It’s not his fault!” The youngling interrupted, “h-he just fell into water after accidentally getting hit in the head, by my foot!”

That was an awful excuse of a lie. But something else occupied Lugia’s attention. “Stop stop stop. You went to the surface?!?” Lugia asked sternly.

“Y-Yeah,” the little one replied.

“We ran into each other during the storm and well...I couldn’t just leave him there,” the young one said.

Lugia took a long breath with clear irritation and then calmly asked me, “Is this true?”

The young one was lying, but I didn’t want to state the truth for my sake, not at her expense. No, not want, every fiber of my being compelled me not to. I wasn’t sure why though. **(More accurately, I didn't know why the feeling was intense.)** Nevertheless, I replied, “Yes. It was an accident that knocked me out. It was just a happenstance. In fact, if it weren't for her, I would be...in another dimension by now.”

“You mean dead, right?” the youngling interjected.

“Same difference,” I said. **(How could I possibly know it was safe to say that? Better question, who told you about death at your age?)**

I was certain that I helped fill the holes in the youngling’s story **(despite my doubts)**. Who was going to believe I got a bad headache just by her talking to me for the first time. Luckily, Lugia couldn’t read my mind, even if he wanted to. 

The guardian sighed, hanging down his wings for a brief moment. “How about we have a word in private?” he proposed.

I nodded in agreement; with one look at the surroundings, I noticed a plethora of water type pokemon **(most of which were not fish-like)** , staring at us in a mix of confusion and curiosity. There was no way we could discuss legendary matters in a public space after all.

Lugia saw me shivering, so **(in an almost apathetic manner)** he proceeded to dry my fur by blowing a somewhat strong gust of wind with his wings. It barely worked; my fur was still damp and the wind made me feel even more cold.

Lugia then turned to his offspring, “And I’ll have a word with you later. Head to back to the house until I get back from...talking with him.” The guardian glared at me after saying this. There was no way I could reason my way out of this.

With that said, the guardian escorted me from the docks. As I looked back, I saw the youngling wearing a relieved expression **(maybe because Lugia bought the story)**. The guardian parted the incoming crowd; one look was all they needed to know what was up. It was clear that Lugia was well-known around here. It didn’t make any sense at all, not from what I was told by my contract. So why was Lugia associating with these folks? Those thoughts plagued my mind as we made our way through the streets.

###### 

###### 

Soon after starting our trek through the city, I pondered about a couple of things. First and foremost, was that young one’s behavior. The lie was one thing, but the fact that she even went to the surface at all was something else entirely **(almost unheard of)**. Normally from what I heard, younglings tend to stay where they were born until they’re adolescents, which is about 5 to 6 myth-years in the case of a Lugia. This one was _far_ too young to be wandering on her own; furthermore, it sounded like she has a history of doing that **(based on Lugia’s reactions anyways)**. 

The second thing that bothered me was the headache, which had ebbed away now. This headache showed images from my dreams. Up to now, I vaguely remembered them. Now, I started remembering them far more clearly, almost fondly. I’ve always been able to bury the thoughts of these dreams before, but not anymore. I couldn’t stop thinking about them. It felt obsessive in a disturbing way. Did that youngling do something to me, or was it some kind of effect from indulging in my darkened desires? I shuddered at the thought.

I quickly shook my head in order to dismiss it. I searched my surroundings for something else to think about. A question crossed my mind, (“Why is there air down here?”). One would think that everything would be underwater. Maybe the air was for Water-Types that can walk on land or something? Honestly, it was hard to tell and I wasn’t about to complain about it.

I noticed that most of the buildings weren’t too tall, and were rounded in shape. This street Lugia and I were strolling through was fairly spacious. Many of the buildings on each side had a seashell-like pattern and texture. The streets themselves didn’t have that semi-smooth texture like the dock. In fact, if it weren’t for the weird sky, I probably would have mistaken it for a land-based town. The ground had a sandy texture, perhaps as a means to prevent one from slipping. Even stranger was the presence of plant-life on the sides of the road. Sure, the plants had their sea-side quirks, but the presence of land-based plants alone definitely made me a little unsettled. It made me wonder what kind of seaside wonderland I got dragged into.

The plants then made me think about the fact that I felt a breeze here. Down here, it should have been impossible. Maybe it was something I didn’t understand yet. Soon, my thoughts were interrupted by a flash of yellow. I stopped my pace and looked around the area. Nothing. Nothing, but the confused faces of passing water pokemon. I casually scratched my wondering when Lugia shouted to me, “Zeraora!” This noise snapped me out of my stupor and I immediately continued to follow Lugia.

###### 

###### 

In time **(with my fur now decently dry)** , we eventually arrived at our destination. It was the tallest building in the entire city; it could even be seen from the docks. It was a large tower resembling a massive hourglass, only the connecting ends weren’t paper-thin. In some ways, the tower resembled two finely cut diamonds glued together with glistening gold and then encased in a silver frame. Each large part of the tower also wore a net of slim, tiny blackened edges that permeated throughout the entire outer structure **(which seemed to sport a silver-blue aesthetic)**.

Near the top of the tower was a large, round object embedded into the wall with two long, blade-like apparatuses protruding from the center. Another side of the tower had a similar object as well. I could only assume that all four sides had this object for the purpose of symmetry. As Lugia and I made our way into the courtyard of this area, I noticed that there were at least two other paths that lead to the tower’s equally-vast base. Each path also seemed to uniformly branch into each other, creating quite a convenient structure for access. **(It was probably a pain to keep secure though.)** Off the sides of each path were large patches of meadow grass with several trees and fountains scattered about **(also in an eerily uniform fashion)**. 

Seeing all this made me want to appreciate the arrangement of this land, but at the same time, the empty cleanliness felt off. If it wasn’t for the need to keep walking, I probably would have thought more about it.

Nevertheless, the two of us made our way to an entrance at the tower’s hard stone base. Stationed on the wall was a set of translucent glass doors that towered over Lugia **(probably double his height)**. There were also some panels of stone walls **(at least on the corners)** , but otherwise most of the wall, especially near the doors, consisted of similar glass to the doorways.

Lugia urged me to head inside with a gesture of his right wing. Entering the tower’s lobby, I could see the other three entrances from where I was. **(One could assume they were equally as large considering the symmetrical feeling of this place.)** At the corners were waiting areas with seats of varying sizes. The center of the room had several large desks facing each entrance, it reminded me of a shop keeper’s desk used to separate a customer from the merchant. Finally, at the diagonals adjacent to each entrance ran massive staircases rising to the next floor. Gazing upward from the entrance, the hollow inside was filled with a large network of winding stairs expanding toward a hardly visible ceiling.

Suddenly, my feet lost the ground. My body began glowing with a light-blue aura. I guessed it was telekinesis and sure enough, Lugia’s eyes were glowing with a blue light.

“Going up.” Lugia stated before taking off with me in tow. We rose up about 10 floors before finally landing near a large door in front of us.

Lugia guided me into the room. It had a large hay bed as well as a rather gargantuan desk paired with a stool only something large could sit on. There were also small windows near the top of the room that provided natural light **(or as natural as this town allows)**. I stood near the desk as Lugia closed the door softly.

Lugia remained near the entrance and began speaking, “On the subject of my offspring’s behavior, she’s been a bit of a problem child ever since she learned to swim, always trying to explore. I guess I’m due for an apology to Virizion, but that’s beside the point. What is important now is in regards to your little storm a while ago.”

Hearing him say this made me grit my teeth.

Lugia shook his head and sighed, “As if the constant natural disasters on the Air Continent weren’t bad enough already, here you are making a ruckus out of the ocean. What happened?”

I took a deep breath to compose myself before replying. “Look, not everyone can be Arceus. I just-”

“Made a mistake? You sure did, and now the ocean currents here are out of control!” Lugia interjected. I winced hearing the harsh tone. “For your information, I wasn’t sure what was going on with that storm today. One thing I do know for certain is that it wasn’t planned to last this long.”

I spoke out, “Okay, I made the storm last longer than it was supposed to thanks to the accident. It’s not like it’s going to make too much of a disaster.”

Lugia gave me a nasty look of disgust at that moment. Strike one.

Lugia elaborated, “Maybe, if it were on land. The ocean-bound storms on the other hand, can mess around with ocean currents. Surely, the other storm-makers would have told you that.”

(“Oh!...That’s what I was forgetting”) I thought, (“The one time I decided to mentally doze off during a Zapdos ramble was when he mentioned an important tip like that... _grreeeaaaat_ “).

I started to move toward the entrance. “All right, I made a mistake. I’ll just get going now before-”

Lugia blocked the door. “No no, where do you think you’re going?”

I readily replied, nearly stuttering initially. “O-out of your domain. I don’t belong here. Just being here is against all of our contracts. So if I swim up-”

Lugia, wearing an irritated look in his eyes, gently nudged me to step back with his left wing. “You’re right, you don’t belong here. But I have some bad news for you. I don’t care how good of a swimmer you call yourself. The currents here are more or less merciless to anyone that isn’t an efficient swimmer. You’re lucky that the currents just so happened to work in favor of the town’s direction, otherwise my child might not have made it in time.”

Remembering the young one’s size, I could see how swimming while carrying my limp body would prove difficult, especially without observable psychic abilities. If the currents were against her, I would probably be getting my regrets stamped in the afterlife right now. Furthermore, taking my chances in the currents would be a big mistake.

Lugia then told me, “You see? Since your storm rattled the currents, they became rougher than ever. Normally, I would probably call a Wailord over to give you a ride, but with the currents the way they are,” Lugia’s calm demeanor then descends into a frown he growls through, “I’m afraid to say that you’re just stuck here.”

I start to feel the gravity of the situation. With no way out on my own and no access to the surface, preventing the current spread of natural disasters from the Air Continent has officially become harder than ever for Tornadus and Thundurus, especially with Zapdos out cold.

“OK, I can sit here for a while, but h-how long though?” I asked.

Lugia, with reluctance, replied, “...I dunno.”

Needless to say, that reply sent a small shock of disbelief down my system. I snapped, “WHAT?!? What do you mean you don’t know?!? You’re the freaking guardian of the sea! How in Kyorge’s name do you not know?!?”

Lugia winced before interjecting, “Don’t blame me! You’re the imbecile who made the currents go all loopy! Seriously, there’s no discernible pattern to them. It’s going to take a least a week to figure out what I’m dealing with here before fixing the problem.”

Hearing this, I took some breaths to get a grip on my nerves. “W-well, what do I do?” I asked, “I have never been in this situation before. The Air Continent needs me up there to prevent the disasters from spreading further to other parts of the world.”

Lugia followed suit in calming down with breaths. **(He was probably panicking on the inside as well.)** Finally, still with uncertainty on his face he begs, “I don’t know. I’m in just as much trouble as you are, but all I can ask of you now is to wait calmly.” 

I could only imagine this was his way of trying whatever it took to calm me down **(being aware of...well, the “other situation” as some call it)**. It didn’t work in helping my nerves settle. Just as quickly as it came, the vulnerable look disappears, replaced by his usual public persona. 

He then began giving me orders as if he knows what he’s talking about **(I can bet some Poké he didn’t)** , “Don’t make trouble here and for goodness sake do not do anything stupid like making electrical discharges please. It’s hard enough with the young one.”

Lugia opened the door before gesturing me out of the room. 

We exited the tower, this time using the entrance below Lugia's office.

“This path leads to the eastern side of town,” the guardian stated, pointing a wing toward the gate, “the folks there are a lot more friendly to those similar to you. They have an inn and everything.”

(“Wait, ‘those similar to me?’ What the heck?”). “Hold up,” I said, “what do you mean by that?”

The giant bird straightened up and sighed. **(He probably rolled his eyes too.)** He then stooped back down and replied, “Hmm?...did you expect only Water Types to live here?” He shook his head after saying that. Before giving me a chance to answer, the guardian continued. “Understandable, but no, there is a rather large portion of the population that’s not of the Water-Type. Though if I were to talk about it now, we’d be here for hours.” I got his reasoning for that last statement as confusing as all of this was. The more time we wasted here, the longer it would take for the guardian to fix my mistake.

“Just go to the main street's inn on the left. Once there, tell the innkeeper Milotic that I sent you and she’ll know what to do from there,” Lugia instructed. After saying this, he turned around and entered a ready stance for flight toward the western side of town.

As this happened, I recalled Lugia’s attitude and how different he, err rather she acted when I last saw her. Most folks would call the lot of us legendaries ‘genderless.’ That’s not really the truth unless we’re talking about some super deity like Dialga. There are some lengedaries that have a defined gender, like Latios and Latias being male and female respectively. As for others like myself, I would say we’re both. The differences from each other come down to preference. All one would really need to know is that some like myself preferred to stay male and others preferred to remain female. Lugia was one such legendary that preferred the female gender **(That’s what memory led me to believe anyways)**.

Even though it was a long time ago and I was young, I remembered Lugia being a much more caring individual, almost motherly. Seeing her-...him now, the sight of it all left a sickening feeling. This recollection compelled me to halt the guardian’s preparation.

“Wait!” I shouted to Lugia. The guardian turned his head in acknowledgment. Seeing this, I hesitantly asked, “What changed? You used to be so nice.” 

My question made Lugia’s face grimace. It was clearly something of a touchy subject. The guardian then made a cold and honest reply, “You of all pokemon should already know the answer to that question or rather _should_ have known.” The reply instantly made me regret asking. **(Of course it would be that subject. What else would it be? If only I** **_could_ ** **tell you.)** I gritted my teeth in frown and looked downward in shame. Lugia sighed before speaking once more, “Just take of yourself, okay?”

I didn’t bother looking back up, I heard Lugia’s takeoff and felt an intense gust of air from it. By the time I glanced back toward where Lugia was, he was gone. There was only displaced grass on the ground. I was left alone with nothing but my given instructions.

###### 

###### 

Now alone, I decided to calm my nerves by exploring a little. I stared at the tower and took the rightward path a short ways to the north side. After reaching the northern path, I looked up to check the roof. Sure enough, keeping up with architecture theming, I saw a round object on the wall, just like the other two sides. Although it was tough to make out, the same details of the apparatuses were also present. I did, however, notice something was different; on both of these objects, the longer arm of the apparatuses seems to have moved slightly. I couldn’t tell if it was my eyes tricking me or what though.

I jogged slowly around the tower while peering at the odd objects up there. After one lap that returned me to the east side, I concluded that these devices were synchronized in some way because the other sides had similar changes. An unexpected thought popped into my mind, (“Yeah, it’s a clock tower alright.”). My eyes widened after processing the idea. (“Wait, clock tower? Where did that come from?”). Reluctantly, I decided that I should clear my head and relax somewhere.

After a short bit of searching, I found a fairly secluded spot near the south eastern corner of the yard. Oddly enough, it was a bit dissimilar to the other corners. There were more bushes and shrubbery accompanying a standard bench found in the other areas. Hanging over the area was a large tree placed near the corner wall **(must have lived at least several myth-years at this point)** ; it stood high above the courtyard walls **(maybe twice their height)**. Though trimmed, the branches extended outward in a manner far opposite of the tower’s theming; there was no discernible pattern that stood as symmetrical. Sure, it seemed petty to make _everything_ symmetrical, but this tree was far taller than the others **(perhaps the oldest one)**. Every other corner tree was considerably shorter and was well-groomed. This one was clearly special. 

I decided to take a closer look at it. It was then I noticed a small metal plate embedded in the trunk. Gazing at the plate’s Modern Print Rune engraving, my nerves were set off once again.

_Resting here in memory are the wishes made by Glimmer, the third of her line. Let her wishes be granted by the next generation, wishes for a peaceful world free from the lies forged from a ruined past._

I groaned in disgust seeing the words, seeing the name shown. ("Peaceful world...as if.") I then begrudgingly sat at the bench that lied across from the memorial. I growled furiously into my paws in frustration, reflecting on this whole situation. ("This mess could have been avoided, but no, I just _had_ to indulge in those dreams of mine.")

Thinking about the dreams at that moment was a big mistake; I clutched my head as more images began to invade my mind, causing my vision to white out.

###### 

###### 

When my vision came back, I was greeted with the sight of a forest. I noticed myself moving without any input, it became apparent that one of my dreams was playing out again. Despite it being a recognizable dream, it was never this clear before. It was raining and I sensed that I was searching for some kind of shelter; it could be home. After a few moments, a yelp could be heard from the left direction. The image briefly turned static before clearing back into a new scene. The new picture showed an injured and exhausted Shinx; it looked very young too.

The young, timid voice of a boy quietly sounded out in muttering, “Hey...what are you doing out here?” The voice never came from any exterior direction, but rather from a formerly inward direction, almost from the mouth. As the words were stated, I quickly realized the perspective of this dream; I was seeing this bizarre world from this boy's eyes, whatever he was anyways. It didn’t make any sense, who was this boy? Why was I seeing this from someone else’s perspective?

The boy reached out to this Shinx with his bald hand, eventually touching them. Noticing this, the kitten sent a small spark that shocks the boy briefly. The sparks were weak; The poor pokemon was definitely in a severely weakened state because it fell unconscious after their attempted attack.

The boy, though terrified at first, couldn’t help, but feel sorry for the little one. He didn't give up and tried to pick up the kitten. This time, no shock came. Now holding the little one, boy began moving back to the path.

As he did so, he made occasional glances at the Shinx. It was clear he was having a hard time holding onto the little one. I could only assume that the boy was quite young and lacking in strength. His walking pace was also quite slow.

With each occasional glance, an intrusive feeling of regret and sorrow built itself up within me until the whole image became unbearable to watch. I began to resist watching a moment longer, causing the image to blur itself into static and eventually back to darkness.

###### 

###### 

There was silence for a long while before I opened my eyes again. I was back to reality **(albeit staring at the ground while still sitting on the bench)**. I dropped my hands down on top of my knees and sighed. (“What am I going to do? I’m unfamiliar with this town and I can’t even leave at all. What are the others going to do when they find out? The Air Continent’s going to be neglected at this rate. I just _had_ to go and make the job my own NOW, out of _ALL_ of the possible moments of timing. And then there’s that youngling...just how?”)

As I thought this a familiar voice crashed the train of thought, “Uhh, are you okay?”

I gritted my teeth. (“Speak of the devil...”). Loosening my expression, I slowly looked up to find the Lugia offspring standing in front of me, with a caring empathy in her eyes.

“Umm, are you...crying?” the youngling asked.

The question surprised me. I touched my face to find it wet with tears. I didn’t remember crying during that daydreaming episode. “Oh! Uhh I guess I did.” I said dismissively as I rubbed away the leftover tears. “But not anymore.”

After calming myself a little, I asked her, “Sooo...wasn’t Lugia going to talk with you or something?”

“What? Pops?” the youngling replied. “ehh, he did already, but that was like an hour ago.”

“Huh?” I blurted. Looking around, I noticed that the town lighting dimmed a little, now sporting an orange sunset look. (“Huh, I guess a lot of time passes when daydreaming.”)

Noticing my confusion, the youngling said to me, “Oh right, you don’t know much about this place at the moment, do you...” She then raised her wings in a courier-like manner, “Welcome to Silspring, one of many towns in the world that are under the sea. This one in particular is the most isolated of them all... _literally_. As for the lighting, it changes based on what the daylight’s like up at the surface, according to Pops. Either way, it’s one way we can tell time down here.” After saying this, the little one strolled over to my left, gesturing for me to come along.

After we left the corner area, the offspring pointed one of her wings upward toward the tower. “The other way, at least here, is the Hourglass Tower. See those round-looking objects up there? It tells us what time it is. The base circle displays every part of the day, while the arms point to what time it is on the surface. The short arm tells what part of the day, and the long arm shows how long until the next part. The time right now is around Half-Dusk since both arms are pointing at the right orange section.” 

I peered at the apparatuses once more and sure enough, the arms were now pointing in the stated directions of the base. Looking at it now, I noticed that each section of the base has distinct coloration representing each time of day; both arms were on an orange sector representing Dusk. One other example I also noticed was the bottom sector that had a dark-blue coloration with a moon printed at the bottom of the base; one could only imagine it being the Midnight Sector. The information was a lot to digest, but the youngling's explanation made sense to me. (“It’s a sundial, only sideways and includes _every_ part of the day on it.”).

“It’s a lot of complicated stuff and I did the non-nerdy version. So, any questions?” the youngling asked.

I looked back at the youngling and decided at that moment to ask more questions now while I had the chance. “So, what brought you to where I was again? Because I got confused when I first saw you.”

“Hmmm? I could have swore I told you before,” replied the youngling.

I shook my head. “Uh, no. Not really” Why would she assume that after I collapsed from a headache _she_ inflicted?

Realizing this, the young lady turned away in embarrassment. “Oh. right...I guess I didn’t” she stated. The response was rather strange...I would have thought she would be more adamant about it. She then shook her head before pouting, “Wait a second! Of course I did old man! Did you seriously forget?!?”

("Ah, I spoke too soon.") I calmly explained to her, “I think you did, but I was a bit too busy having my head split open by the sound of your voice.”

The little one turned away while still glaring at me, “Well, it’s not now gramps.”

I sighed. “Look, I don’t get it either. Also, 11 myth-years is not that old for me...or any legendary for that matter. Besides, I’m barely an adult.” I then pointed at her “And how old are you? Three by the looks of it?”

The youngling scoffed upon hearing my questions, “What?!? I’m 42 darn it! I’m hardly a kid anymore!”

“Oh...my mistake. So you’re 4 Myth-Years,” I corrected myself, shrugging in an apathetic fashion. “That would make you 11 in terms of the common...yeah, that’s still kid material.” 

The little one was beginning to fume to a boiling point. I decided it would best steer the topic in a different direction. It was time for a little acting. “Alright, I’ll admit that I have been a bit forgetful today, so could you remind me a little?” I asked politely. The sudden question broke the little one out of her temper, catching her off guard. She then backed off and started pondering to herself.

After a short while, she finally answered. “Okay...you’re right, fighting over something like this is just going to waste our limited time. I suppose I can tell you real quick since you were nice about it.” I could tell she was holding something back, but it didn’t seem like resentment at all though. It was more like anxiety. For what though, I could not imagine.

The youngling began telling her tale. “In short, Pops and his goons had me contained here as usual. So I escaped and explored a bit. Unlike the other times though, I swam up higher than usual, that’s when I heard an unusual song coming from the surface. As I continued to rise, I noticed the ocean ceiling and broke through. That’s when I found you dancing and...I think you know the rest at this point. The End.”

The youngling’s story had a vagueness to it I should have expected. I should have known that a child’s story might not be the best source for serious information...but at the same time, I think I have a general idea now of how she found me in the first place **(bad luck)**. Either way, that’s strike two for me.

So, I sighed before saying, “I should have known that was the story.” I followed up with another necessary question. “So...do you have a nickname you go by?”

The youngling pondered a bit before replying, “hmm…nope, unless you count ‘Five’ as one.”

“Five?” I repeated.

The youngling elaborated, “Like the number 5. Pops said something about a bunch of rules or something?”

I realized she was talking about the contract number. Ever since we started to document our history, legendary pokemon began to reference predecessors by counting numbers. I was branded with the number 4, making me the fourth Zeraora in recorded history. So this Lugia offspring is the fifth err soon-to-be fifth in her line **(she was** **_way_ ** **too young to be under contract yet)**. I was stunned. I had a nickname, a pretty weird nickname, but it certainly beats being called by a number. In all honesty, I didn’t take someone like Lugia as being lazy when it came to names.

I cautiously asked, “They seriously just call you by your number?”

“No, no, only the real big jerks call me that,” she answered, “Not even someone as mean as Pops calls me that. Pops just says young one because...well...I don’t really know.”

I felt bad. I couldn't let this lack of a name slide. “Okay, how about a new nickname then?” I proposed.

“Like what?" the little one asked as she tilted her head. “I’m not great with names. Could you do it?”

“Uh nickname. Right, name…” I muttered. I thought about several ideas. Finally, a certain word came to mind. I wish I thought more about it before getting down on one knee and asking, “How about Balena?” 

In an instant, the youngling showed clear disgust and murderous intent at the name. In the next, I felt the powerful, stinging pain of the strikeout; it was from the offspring’s right wing in the vague form of a super effective Pound attack. I think both the slap and the accompanying scream could be heard across the entire town. Oh wait, that scream was the high-pitched yelp I let loose in the third instant. “OOOWWWWCH!!!!”

I laid flat on the ground, with the entire left side of my face burning with unbearable pain. “O-okay...n-not that one,” I groaned weakly.

“Any _other_ bright ideas mister?” the little one asked with an annoyed growl.

I slowly got up, trying to think of something else. (“Okay, try to think of something that won’t end in me getting another slappening.”) I began to mutter to myself, “So she’s a Lugia, so maybe...Lu-”

“Lu what?” the youngling asked, hearing the muttering.

I was caught off-guard, so I looked around in a panic for anything that could serve as inspiration. Yet nothing clever came to mind. So I slowly fessed up, “...See-”

“Lu...see?” the puzzled offspring asked.

Relief came over me. (“Lusea”). It was a fine name and it wouldn’t cause too much suspicion **(plus, it seemed creative enough)**. With enthusiasm, I said to her, “Yep Lusea. Surely, it’s something you can have as a name...for the time being at least.”

The youngling shrugged, “True, it beats Five.”

I grabbed a nearby piece of rock to use for chalk and went over to the stone wall. As I wrote the name, I elaborated, “Well, your name will be Lugia, plus you’re going to be in the sea. So, why not Lusea.”

The youngling looked at the name with curiosity. “Spelled with C and Y apparently,” she commented. 

My eyes widened and peered at what I wrote. I spelled it as “Lucy.” If there was such a thing as a fourth strike, I was pretty sure got it just then.

Before I could scratch it out and correct it, the youngling stopped me, “Hold it. I kind of get the pun you’re trying to tell, at least with this, it’s not obvious. Besides, I’ve always liked this spelling of it anyways.” 

I turned to the youngling with skepticism. (“Always?”) I thought, (“You’ve only seen it for a few moments at best”).

Nevertheless, the little one clapped her wings together enthusiastically. “Got that? I’m Lucy now,” she proudly declared. There was nothing I could do now, she seemed adamant about her nickname now.

“Now then Ze-, You! What do I call you.” Lucy asked.

I was taken aback by the sudden shift in her last statement or question, but nevertheless, the answer didn't require much thought. “Zeraora, or just Zera if that’s easier,” I said to her.

Lucy skipped toward the eastern path with a little glee, “Okay Zera, glad to meet you. For real this time.” She then stopped as if remembering something. She turned to me and asked, “Why don’t you stay at my place?” Anxiety shot through my system upon hearing the question.

I was about to argue, but she continued before I had a chance to. “Look, I know Pops wanted you to stay at Milotic’s, but I think it would be better for you to come with me.” Though she didn’t say it, I could probably see why it could be better. No real record would be recorded. But Lugia already gave his instructions.

I shook my head, “No no, I was given explicit instruction.”

Lucy sighed, putting her wings behind her back as if playing innocent, “Well, it’s too bad that I already had Miloltic agree with the idea and cancel the plan then.”

“You did what?” I blurted.

Lucy gave a smirk and placed the edge of her wings on her hips in a superhero-like pose, “Come on, Pops is never there and won’t be for a week...I think. Don’t worry, "Mr. Hero" is also there. Just play along and you’ll be just fine...I hope.”

Before I could refute more, Lucy ran out of the gate. With no other options, I decided to accept her forced offer and jog after her in pursuit.

### 

### 

###  **_Fragment of Knowledge:_ **

_The Cornerstone Oak_ **:**

> This 30 myth-year old tree was planted in Silspring by a town heroine known as Glimmer. After she tragically lost her life during the Calamity Rift Incident, the tree has since served as a memorial for the courageous fighter. Though some attempt to warrant a reason to tear down the oak, Lugia (the fourth) actively, and fiercely, opposes this course of action.


	5. Chapter 2: House Guest

We strolled down the main eastern street before going south toward what looked like a residential district. **(The buildings there gave that vibe.)**. While there were plenty of houses on these sandy streets that looked similar to those on the south western side, there was also a surprising number of generic-looking buildings. These buildings had more straight edges when it came to walls. In addition, the textures of each home had grounded seashells tightly packed to look flat and hard; closer inspection of these walls showed hard metal beneath the grounded shell coating. The rooftops of these buildings were also angled upward at the front. Furthermore, some of the buildings were practically connected to one another, even as the streets curved. The only point where there gaps when there were major and side streets, or when there was an alleyway.

Lucy happily skipped without much worry at all as we traveled through several city blocks. As for me, I noticed a few folks giving me strange, almost judgmental, looks. **(I could have swore I heard some laughter too, couldn't tell why though.)** I did not bother staring back and foolishly thought about that dream I had earlier. No flashback happened this time, but more unusual thoughts invaded my head space. More specifically, I began thinking of places I never heard of in my life as a mythical. (“This humid air reminds me of Hoenn, if it had Sinnoh’s climate...wait...Hoenn? Sinnoh? Ugh, it’s just like the dock and whatever the heck plastic is. Where do these thoughts keep coming from?”)

“Hey Zera! This way!” Lucy shouted. I snapped out of my thinking session and noticed Lucy had stopped near an alleyway. The corridor Lucy was pointing to moved toward the south-eastern corner of the Hourglass Tower.

The alleyway itself was surprisingly easy to miss. It was kind of fitting, considering a legendary would want their offspring hidden. Why Lugia picked a city as a habitat was still unclear, but I had an idea that Lucy’s behavior was to blame. Which begged the question, why haven’t we met this "Mr. Hero" yet? We should have ran into each other a long while ago if anything. Lucy ran into the entrance ahead of me.

As I proceeded to follow, a feeling made me stop. I questioned if someone was watching us. I turned around to see a yellow figure dashing away from the side of an entrance. (“What the? An Electric-Type?”) I immediately dashed after it. I exited the alley and stopped. I proceeded to search for any possible escape routes, starting with the almost empty streets. Nothing. So, I then glanced toward the neighboring rooftops, which also had nothing. Finally, I crossed the road and looked back at the alleyway rooftops. Nothing. (“Are my eyes playing tricks on me?”)

“Hey! What’s the holdup!” Lucy shouted over, now tapping her foot at the alley entrance. With nothing to go off of, I reluctantly followed the little one into the alleyway at walking pace.

The alleyway, unlike the streets, did not sport the sand-like paths; instead the path was made of hard stone. Though there was a plethora of trash scattered on the side, the amount lessened as we made our way through. 

At the end of the alley, was a large balloon-like structure with a rectangular chimney popping out of the roof's right side. At the front was a massive front door that can fit Lugia’s size **(barely though)**. The odd structure didn't compare to the cleanliness of the area. When I thought of alleyways back on the other continents, I always saw them as the polar opposite. Inevitably, I dismissed the details as a part of _this_ town's standards. Lucy opened the front door and ushered me inside.

###### 

###### 

The house's interior started as a wide hallway with a fourteen-foot ceiling. The end of this corridor, oddly enough, has a small flight of three-foot long stairs as well as an even higher ceiling. **(Each step on that flight might as well be its own elongated platform.)** Stepping forward into the foyer, I suddenly felt something wrap around my neck. Whatever it was forced me onto the ground. Instinctively, I tried to grasp my neck and noticed the slick texture on the choking apparatus. My attacker was alive and most likely had access to long arms.

Lucy turned around with irritation, “Grappleoct! What the heck?!?”

The attacker revealed themselves in response and I saw the blue colors of the attacker’s arms. Either way, Grappleoct had a tight hold on me. I would have tried to send an electrical shock, but the lack of air wasn’t doing me any favors.

Grappleoct spoke, “Ahh! I’m glad to see you unharmed young lady. I just apprehended this pink-faced fiend.”

I tried to speak, but I couldn’t get any breath, resulting in a spastic and fruitless effort to squirm out of harm’s way **(spastic meaning flailing the legs like an idiot)**.

“Let him go! He’s a new friend, not a fiend! I saved his life!” Lucy shouted.

I heard Grappleoct sound out an awkward sense of realization. “Ohhh. My apologies,” he said before releasing his grip.

I rolled over and gasped for air. After a short burst of mixed coughing and gasping, my breathing finally stabilized. “Puh- Pink-faced fiend?” I blurted. “How hard did she slap me?!?” I asked as I let out a wince of pain poking my left cheek.

“Hard enough to fit the crime,” Lucy replied in annoyance.

“Ohhhh. That’s what the loud slapping noise was,” Grappleoct exclaimed.

I hissed quietly as I got up. I dusted myself off as I peered at my former attacker. Yep, he was no doubt Grappleoct. The blue body and yellow markings said it all, **(and that wasn't even talking about those arms he used to stand up)**. Seeing a body like that in real life unsettled me. I've heard about how these Fighting-Types lived in the ocean and crawl onto land to fight many different opponents. Their bodies were supposedly all muscle, no bones whatsoever. This trait gave the species a dangerous amount of grip strength with its arms. Hence the name, Grappleoct. **(Just the thought of having your guts bounce around as you move gave me shivers.)** Staying this guy's good side was definitely a priority.

To get my mind off of the horrors of that octopus body, I quickly changed the subject by saying, "A-anyways, I guess I should introduce myself now. I am Zeraora."

Grappleoct’s cyan eyes immediately focused on me upon hearing that. “Zeraora? You mean you're _the_ Zeraora?”

I sighed and nodded in response. "Am I famous here or something?"

"No, not necessarily but, let's just say Lugia doesn't like you very much," the Fighting-Type said.

"Ohhh...good to know..." I was starting to think taking Lucy's offer was a bad idea **(considering Lugia's friend here seemed to think alike)**.

"Ehhh...you don't seem to be a bad guy by the look of things," Grappleoct said, "Plus, the guardian already told me you were a bit of a loner-type."

Lucy piped up at that moment, "Well as long as he's here, I'll make sure he doesn't try to be said loner."

"Haha!" Grappleoct exclaimed, "She must _really_ like you as friend considering she-" The Fighting-Type cut off his sentence as his expression changed into a serious look that turned him toward Lucy. “ _Waaaaiiit_ a second. How did you get out again?”

Lucy only nervously chuckled before responding, “Hehehe. I, uh...I forget?”

Hearing this, the octopus smacked a couple of tentacles onto his face.

The offspring's eyes widened as she blurted, "Ohhh right. It was him! The little-" Before the she could finish, Grappleoct cleared his throat loudly. Lucy then places a wing over her mouth in a panic. She uttered an apology, "Right, my bad."

Grappleoct sighed and shook his head in a delicate and polite manner.

“Anyways, Zera here is staying with us,” Lucy declared. “So, he’ll need a place to rest?”

The Fighting-Type responded, looking back at me, "Oh. Right...You would need a bed wouldn't you?" As he attempted to run toward what I assumed was his next errand, he stopped himself and turned back to me. "Oh where are my manners? I'm sure you know already, but I'm Grappleoct, the little one's appointed retainer."

“Retainer,” I repeated, “Appointed by her?!?”

“No, I mean _her father_ appointed me as a protector,” Grappleoct clarified, “there’s actually two appointed as protectors. But the other one’s out right now, so it’s just me here... _apparently_ .” The retainer again glared at Lucy as she turned her back to us, rubbing her wings together while doing so. He then shook his head while sighing. I could hear him mumbling something, but it was far too quiet to hear. **(He sounded irritated at someone else.)**

“Umm, sorry to sound nosy but, who's this 'him' Lucy was talking about?” I asked. Both Lucy and Grappleoct shushed harshly at me in an instant; Lucy went further to give me a throat slash signal with her wing. **(The question’s answer was clearly related to a** **_very_ ** **delicate topic by the sound of things.)**

Grappleoct inches closer while staring straight at my eyes. “Listen very closely,” he said in a serious tone, “the 'he' we’re referring to is someone _very_ special, and sensitive. Just know that I’ll be sure to give 'him' a thorough talking. Nothing more.”

“Should I meet 'him' then?” I asked.

“No. He’s, He wouldn’t come out with you around,” the retainer replied. It was a rather weird response. It sounded like this “him” was a shut-in of some kind.

I thought it would be right to ask, “Any places I should avoid then?”

Quickly the retainer replied, “No.” After a couple moments of thinking though, his eyes shifted. “Well actually, yeah there kind of is. Just don’t go down to the berry garden.”

“You keep a berry garden down here?” I blurted.

“Yes I do,” Grappleoct said as he patted my head, “and you shouldn’t go down there without my permission.”

“But I don’t know where it is,” I said in a fluster.

“Then don’t wander about and you’ll be fine,” the retainer replied with a smile, “And no, it’s not a ghost type if that’s what you were wondering.”

Finally, he whispered to my ear, “Can you do me a favor and keep this ‘him’ business inside of the house, or better yet just forget what you heard about it? I’d rather not speak of it, or worse let word get out. I mean, we all have our inner secrets, right?” 

I couldn’t get a good grasp of the situation, but something about the retainer just...resonated with me somehow. I couldn’t tell if it was the way he dropped the act to be serious or if it was something much more subtle. His words had the persuasive power of a group rather than just one mon, which was something only a well-educated pokemon could have. **(He just didn’t seem like that kind of pokemon though, not at a glance.)** Nevertheless, I nodded in agreement.

Acknowledging my cooperation, he then sped across the room toward a small stairwell found across from the entrance. He, now back to his bizarre heroic attitude again, then says “For now, I can only assume the both of you are dying for some grub right now. Make yourselves at home until I get some stuff ready.” He then descended down the stairs without another wasted moment, leaving Lucy and I behind at the foyer.

We stood there for a few moments in silence before Lucy inevitably broke it. “Yeah, that’s Mr. Hero alright,” she said, “Sure, he does seem a little weird, but th- he’s a good man. Just looking out for me. That’s all.”

("A Grappleoct for guarding a Lugia...I guess it would help for the Dark-Types I guess, but...I don't think Lugia ever anticipated the offspring fighting back against said protection.") I let out an small "Hmm" before taking a better glance at the place.

###### 

###### 

Now free from introductions, I looked around in the foyer, which was unsurprisingly large and spacious. **(I mean, how else can a giant near triple my size get around if the rooms weren’t spacious?)** The foyer itself featured a fairly large hole, just as large as Lugia himself. At a glance, the hole went down several floors. Apart from the pit, there was also a large and thick rectangular section of the right wall that shot into the ceiling **(probably the chimney)**. Furthermore, there was also lighting provided by what looked like crystals of some kind. **(I couldn’t tell what they were due to being obscured by the lamp’s structure.)** The only other noteworthy features were the aforementioned stairwell Grappleoct used **(probably for smaller pokemon to use)** and two sets of stairs leading to an upper deck.

Lucy guided me to the upper floor, which was almost as large as the first floor. Unlike the first floor’s mat-like ground texture, the upper floor consisted of that smooth material found on the south-western docks. Rubbing my foot against it, I could confirm it had just as much grip as well.

The reason became obvious once the youngling showed what was behind the large back door. The back courtyard had a fairly large stone platform, connected to the house via a smooth, stone pathway. Bordering this platform from the walls was a ring of flowers that extended from the home’s back wall all the way to the wall of another building. Looking up, there was a large opening allowing easy passage for any flying pokemon to use. This area was a landing platform; if the guardian came back from a trip in the ocean depths, he would be less likely to slip upon entering the abode **(hence the grippy texture of the upper floor)**. Standing behind the neighboring building in the distance was the Hourglass Tower’s top half, peeking over as if staring back.

"This is the backyard we keep," Lucy remarked, "kind of doubles as a garden and landing platform for Pops...not that he uses it much anyways."

"Wait, you don't use it?" I asked her.

"Nope," the little one replied, "I haven't learned how to fly yet." That response eliminated one easy possibility on how she followed me to the mountain peak.

I turned toward Lucy. "Then how did you follow me to that mountain earlier?"

The youngling just made a nervous glance and smiled. "...I dunno..." I squinted upon hearing the response. "Uhhh...determination? and a lot of running?" she said.

I sighed and scratched my head in disbelief, ("Geez...followed by a flightless fledgling, am I slowing down or something?")

Lucy turned away, mostly likely from the awkwardness of our conversation. **(I had to admit though, the fact that she followed me up that mountain without flight was quite impressive and worth a compliment. I bet she could use some strong kick attacks if she needed to.)**

###### 

###### 

After a peek at the back courtyard, we returned to the foyer and descended down the central stairwell, which was dimly lit **(typical I guess)**. These two long flights of stairs led us to the home's first basement floor. The first sight that greeted us was once again the pit, only this time there was no hallway behind it. The room extended behind us, with each side being almost as spacious as the entrance hall. Past the stairway, was a small lounge room containing chairs, both large and small. To the right of this area, was a room featuring an elongated oval table **(definitely a dining area).**

Before Lucy could lead me somewhere else, Grappleoct came in, gripping three plates of meals. “Hold it,” the retainer declared, “We have our dinner ready right here.” 

At first, I was perplexed at how fast the Fighting-Type made it, but the prep speed was quickly justified as he spread out the plates. “Since we can’t really cook at the moment, leftover raw tonight.” The retainer posed proudly at his decorative work. **(I saw where the little one got her pose from.)** Being in a water-based town, I could only expect seafood **(a Munchlax could figure that out)**. What I forgot about was that there was a chance the cuisine also included raw meat. Even though I had what some would call the nomadic lifestyle, I was still a rather picky eater. And one of those preferences just so happened to be that I’d only eat cooked meat...joy.

“Dare I ask _what_ this kind of meat this is?” I hesitantly asked.

Grappleoct glanced at Lucy nervously. “Uhh...a plenty big fish,” he replied, “You know, not one of us if that’s what you’re wondering.” I squinted my eyes a little hearing the response. “You know how it is,” the retainer explained. 

I only nodded in acknowledgment. **(Yep, he was lying; couldn’t blame him since we were in front of a young child though.)**

I had more pressing concerns as all of us sat at the table. (“Raw meat, why did it have to be raw meat?!?”) Small beads of sweat began to pour out of my head as I readied my first bite. Even I knew that one had to be polite when consuming another culture’s food, especially if they happened to be an unwanted guest for the most part. In other words, I had power through it, no excuses. Although the plate had some greens, there was rather strong egg odor coming from the meat as if it was out in the open air for a while longer than needed.

I had to act fast, the others were already making short work of their plates. Despite my screaming gag reflex, I **(as quickly as a subtle movement would allow)** popped a meat bite into my mouth, but the progress was quickly halted by my suffering taste-buds. The egg and spice flavor did not help matters either. I only cringed and held my teeth shut as both Lucy and Grappleoct shared an awkward stare aimed at me.

To combat this awkward feeling **(in a very poor attempt to keep composure)** , I forced myself to swallow; the taste spread itself out as the piece tumbled down my throat. Once the piece was downed, I tried to smile back. **(The attempted smile only made the scene that much more cringy).**

 **(As if to pull his focus away from the awkward atmosphere)** , Grappleoct asked me this, “Soooo...What brings a cat like you down in the ocean depths?”

Desperate to distract myself **(and them)** , My thoughts latched onto the question's topic. "Wait...what? I mean...yeah we're in the depths, but it's not like I had a choice in the matter. Good thing, there was this cavern here."

Grappleoct and Lucy twitched their eyes upon hearing my statement. They stared at one another and gestured to each other. It went on for a moment before Lucy shrugged silently.

"You do know we're not in a cavern, right?" Grappleoct said.

I thought the question was redundant. "Uhhh...it's a town _beneath_ the ocean...right?"

The Fighting-Type's jaw dropped before he groaned in disbelief.

"Oh my gosh Zera," Lucy exclaimed, "When I said towns under the sea, I meant in water, not _under_ the sea. We are literally underwater, right now. Just in...in a big air bubble essentially.

 **(The Klinks _finally_ started turning.)** "...Wha-?...What?...WHA-?, "WWHHAAAAAAT?!?"

"Maybe I should have clarified that sooner?" Lucy commented.

My hands were shaking, "...Y-You think?!? O-Of course you should have! J-Just how?!?"

Grappleoct spoke up, "Calm down there Zeraora, you wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for the air here. Though even I'm perplexed how you didn't see the evidence. The lighting here and horizon here should have told you sooner."

It was true that I should have noticed sooner. When I first saw the horizon, I did think it was odd. Lucy did say the city lights were based on the time or something. I thought it was a cave beyond the lights. If what Lucy and Grappleoct are saying is true, then the horizon wasn't cavern walls at all...or at least in the traditional sense. I was instead looking ocean water. The deepest depths of the ocean right in front of me and I missed it. I heard the ocean gets dark the farther down you go. Only Water-Types had that pleasure. That's what I thought. **(This was quite the once in a life-time chance.)**

Overwhelmed by these thoughts, I simply stated, "...I guess...I guess it makes sense...it's just a lot to take in."

"We'll just take it one step at a time," Grappleoct said calmly, "Let's start from the beginning of your little situation."

He was right. One step at a time. So I took the time to elaborate on the situation, while trying my best to keep the story consistent with what Lucy supposedly told everyone so far, even the slappening unfortunately. **(Thanks a lot Lucy. The retainer laughed upon hearing about that little incident.)**

After processing all of this in a weirdly careful manner, Grappleoct finally spoke up, “Well now. That’s pretty problematic. But never fear. Feel free to stay at our humble abode for as long as you need...I'm sure Lugia won't notice if you stayed here for a few days.” 

He turned to the fledgling. “So the young one is now Lucy. Pretty interesting name all things considered.” The young one blushed a little in embarrassment hearing the retainer's words. **(However, something about her expression seemed exaggerated somehow.)**

The retainer continued, “Regardless of the matter, the new name will make my job so much easier. I’d like to thank you for helping out with that.” He then banged on the table in declaration, “Now then, let’s eat.”

Everyone continued to eat their meal and I **(foolishly)** followed suit, only to be reminded of the taste I distracted myself from. Though I tried to remain composed, I still screamed and cried internally, (“Aaaauuugh!!! This is the worst!”). This embarrassment lasted through the rest of the dinner time. Somehow, I managed to eat my meal **(but at what cost)**.

###### 

###### 

Without drawing suspicion **(by some miracle)** , I convinced Grappleoct to get me some berry juice, which I took to the top floor’s backyard. There I stood, drinking down the fluid in an attempt to wash down the meal’s flavor. Even though I still questioned how Grappleoct could keep a berry garden down in these depths, I wasn’t about to complain. I was glad I had something to get rid of this awful taste in my mouth. **(Too bad the memory of it will remain.)**

Gazing upward, the sky err...whatever folks called this dome had now darkened itself. The lights now resembled a peaceful night sky **(or at least it would be peaceful had it not been for the chilling wind that blew through the alley on occasion)**. These alley gales were comparable to autumnal wind when it came from the north. Cold enough cut through any unprepared soul. The buildings didn't help much either; they turned this whole alley into a wind tunnel every now and then.

Though partially obscured by the neighboring building, the Hourglass Tower still glistened in the darkness. No, not just glistened, it shined brightly. In fact, the sky-blue color of the main structure was now more pronounced than ever. The golden sun color on the tower’s center also glowed. Even the silver-frame glowed to a certain extent. The tower’s glow at night displayed the daylight horizon of the surface. It was quite a beautiful sight, it made me wonder who built it. Was it a traveling local or some ancient founder?

The tower’s dial displayed itself as now being...oh right, I didn’t know how to read time on the clock. **(Way to go genius.)** The short arm was now on the second-closest wedge to the right of the midnight section. The long arm on the other hand, was near the top section of the dial instead. Either way, it was night-time by the look of things.

I sighed to myself. I then began to drink another mouthful of juice thinking, (“Great, I messed things up and now that youngling’s got me staying here of all places. I swear she’s gonna be the death of me at this rate.”)

As if in response to my thought, a youthful voice spoke up. “Is that so? Maybe this 'flightless fledgling' might actually be ‘the death of you’ if you keep up with that attitude.” Hearing it made me spit the juice out in complete surprise.

I turned around and saw Lucy standing behind me, wings crossed. (“Did she just-”)

“Read your mind? Yeah I did, and that was kind of rude.”

I scratched my head nervously. “Huh, I guess that was obvious...sorry?” (“Lucky guess.”).

“That was _not_ a lucky guess!” the fledgling exclaimed in a fluster, “I’m a psychic type! I can read you like an open book! I thought even you would have known better!”

I couldn’t believe what she was saying. Nobody could truly read my mind, **(not even that battle-hungry philosopher Mewtwo)**. There was only one quick way to test it. I raised my right hand as a promise to tell the truth. “All right, I’ll believe you _if_ you can tell me exactly what all thoughts are word for word after I say done,” I challenged. 

I was confident that she would fail miserably. So I thought there would be no way she could possibly predict insults and slander **(much to my inner dismay)**. So I began to lay out my thoughts in the most complicated way I knew how. (“Try this you nasty little witch! This is absolutely absurd! So many psychic types couldn’t read my mind before. Yet, this youngling thinks she can. Ha! As if! For all I know she dragged me to this town on purpose. Ohhh...but that wouldn’t be enough of a challenge, would it? Let’s see. How about this random insult? You’re a gigantic liar who gets bored on a whim! And another thing, that slap from earlier _still_ hurts! You would be _the worst_ guardian ever and I hope you fail cause you're an idiot.”). “Done,” I concluded. That felt good and I knew luck wouldn't save her now. **(This was going to end badly the moment this idea was conceived.)**

And then I was proven wrong again as Lucy began to repeat my thoughts as my challenge decreed. My face grew pale and my jaw dropped as it happened. Not even my side remarks were safe from the youngling’s attention to detail. In fact, she even mimicked the emotion behind each worded thought down to the emphasis...it felt too unreal.

The fledgling finished reciting my final statement. "...You would be _the worst_ guardian ever and I hope you fail cause you're an idiot.” With that said, the little one put herself in a hero pose and wore an devilish smirk. She then stated in a mocking tone, "Done." **(I mean the insult was well deserved, but it was still cruel to have one’s inner thoughts spat back at them and she knew it)** . After her declaration, Lucy smugly asked me, “Sooo...how was it Mr. Idiot? Surely, you didn’t mean it when you called me an idiot. It was for the challenge after all, right?”

In a sheepish manner, I nodded rapidly **(finally admitting defeat)**.

I was truly left dumbstruck at the idea that this Lugia offspring, out every single pokemon in the world, was the first one to ever read my thoughts exactly. I was even more disturbed at the degree she did it. Maybe it was because I never experienced a psychic type probing my mind before, but it was scary to have someone reading exactly what what I was thinking.

It became clear that I had to put a stop to this. If she read my thoughts at a bad time, it would get me in big trouble **(or worse get us killed)**. With this thought in mind, I asked her, “Look, I believe you now, but it is rude to look into other folks’ minds without their permission. You know that, right?”

Lucy slowly drummed the edges of her wings together out of nervousness. “Hehehe…th-this is the first time I've been told that?”

This wasn’t the first time she was told this, I could easily see that. “Nice try Lucy, but not this time.” I then calmly asked her, “Did you read anything else in my mind today?”

“I- I did read it when you called me flightless earlier, but that was it, I swear,” Lucy replied with a bow.

This was my chance to arrange something. “You shouldn’t be reading random stranger’s minds, right? So, how about a bit of practice? If you promise, not to read my mind unless I allow it, I won’t tell anyone about what happened with the whole abduction thing. In return, I uhh...I guess I’ll be there for you as long as I’m able to?.” I held out a paw. “Do we have a deal?”

Lucy paced around, thinking, for a short bit of time. After several "hmm"s and "err"s she finally walked up to me and declared, "Okay, but on one simple condition."

I tilted my head curiously.

“You gotta be my big brother,” she said.

My eyes widened upon hearing the words. “I-I. I’m sorry, what?”

“Be my big brother," she repeated with open wings, "I never had _real_ siblings before. A lot of other kids got siblings, but not me.” The fledgling crossed her wings as her face grimaced. "It kind of gets lonely when you don't have friends that are _actually_ your age. Even after we settled in the city Pops never lets me play with the other kids, saying that...we belong with us and 'commoners' belong with themselves..." She then stared at me, "It's not fair, especially I don't have someone to relate with...you know?" Finally, Lucy clapped her wings together and begged, "Please...even if it's just for a week."

Lucy's reasoning...I could relate to that in more ways than she could possibly think. It made me recall my younger years **(even if it was for a moment)**. She's been going through a similar situation. I would be heartless if I said that her reasoning didn't mean anything to me. Even still, I was worried if I was _really_ the best guy to call a 'brother' though. **(If I had the time, if I could reason with Lugia, make amends, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I can't, not yet. ...There had to be a way though...somehow.)** Regardless of my conflicted feelings, I muttered under my breath, “I’m not sure if that’s going to end very well...”

Lucy frowned. “Fine, then I’ll just tell Pops _all_ about how you called me a flightless fledgling and how you called me a whale earlier." She then sported wicked and sarcastic smirk. "I’m sure he’ll enjoy that when I tell him.” 

"Hold up!" I exclaimed, "I did _not_ call you a whale at all today!"

"Yes you did," Lucy replied.

"No I didn't!" I retorted.

The fledgling sighed. "...What do you think the word 'Balena' means?"

"Well..." I cut myself off as I thought about the definition. And then I realized it **(Balena is another name for Whale)**. "...oohhhh." I gritted my teeth and winced as a sense of realization hit my system.

“W-would he really break me for that?” I asked.

“Ohhh come on...are you _really_ in a good position to take that chance?” she shot back, still smirking. The implications of Lucy’s counter argument more or less terrified me.

We both had dirt on one another, but the most Lugia could do to her is a small punishment. Me on the other hand, I stood no chance **(more accurately, just doomed)**. So, I had no choice but to agree, as awkward and embarrassing as it was to have my arm twisted by a child.

“Alright, a promise is a promise,” I said while shaking Lucy’s right wing.

Afterwards, the fledgling jumped in excitement. “Woo! Yeess!” After a few moments of trying to compose herself, she then ran for the house’s backdoor. She, still somewhat excited, said to me, “Okay, starting tomorrow, we got a lot ahead of us. So let’s get some good rest tonight.”

After a whole day of nonsense, I couldn’t agree more. I nodded and took my time following the youngling back to the house.

###### 

###### 

As Lucy and I entered the foyer, Grappleoct came up to us. “Ah you’re done I see. I just finished up preparing your room for tonight.”

We followed the Fighting-Type down to the second basement floor. Like with the dining area, the first sight we saw was the pit. 

Gazing at the ground floor from the hole's edge, I saw a seal **(though it seemed upside down from where I was looking)**. The mark showed a massive hourglass. In each of the non-diagonal directions, were smaller markings. To the right of the main object **(from the current perspective)** , was a lightning bolt. On the left was some kind of tree. Below the object was a mountain covered in what looks like fire and ash. Finally at the above position, was an eyeball that typically used to brand the Psychic-Types. All of these objects were bound together with drawn decoration in the form of lines flowing in a similar manner to the chaotic ocean waves ringing around the circular seal. If I was looking at it from the proper direction, I’d probably be able to see more of it, but alas I wasn’t so fortunate.

Behind the pit were a pair of doors that featured the aesthetics of a dojo, perhaps a training area.

Moving around the stairwell behind me, I saw yet another small relaxation area adjoined by two hallways. The major difference between this area and the one above was that there was a massive box table type of device. This device had quite a few smaller pieces of wood. **(The many visible lines gave that indication; some of the pieces were also raised up in some kind of pattern.)** The halls and doorways were also quite large; it was pretty easy to tell why. Though it was all quite spacious from my perspective, I could see it being somewhat cramped for someone larger, as if one were standing in a tent.

Past this area in the forward direction, was a long hallway lined with several doors. To the right was a stone-walled corridor. I followed everyone in the forward direction. I took a small peak at each door as we passed by them. The first of these doors, on the right, seemed to be some kind of disposal room. The next two doors were shut tight, but the next door on the right after seemed to be open. Though I had a brief glimpse, I could tell it was filled with an awful lot of trinkets. There were some rocks, gems, and other weird stuff from who knows where **(it was obvious Lucy’s room by the looks of it)**. 

Finally at the end of the hall to my left, was an open room. Grappleoct led me inside **(and grabbed the container of berry juice out of my hands)**. This guest room was pretty empty, spacious as usual. The desk found within had no items on it or anything. At the left corner of the room **(relative to the doorway)** , was a hay bed arranged in a rectangular shape, with a small fluffy rectangle **(I believe it was what some called a pillow)**.

While watching me look around the room, Gappleoct said to me, “This will be your room...for the time being of course. Use it however you like.” The retainer then pointed at a particular knob on the wall behind us. “This knob here is the light switch, turn it when you’re leaving or when you want to rest.” 

I glanced at the knob. " _This_ turns off the lamps?"

“It doesn’t use fire you know,” Lucy comments.

“Electricity,” Grapploct adds, “...but there’s a lot more complicated stuff about it.”

I peered at the bright lamp on the ceiling. “I guess I’ll take your word for it. I think I just need some rest.”

“Okay. Have a good night,” Lucy said with enthusiasm. The fledgling then dashed out of the room.

Grappleoct glanced at me before saying, "Just turn the knob when you're ready to rest and well...relax. Have a good night." As he walked out, a crashing noise could be heard. The retainer ran through the hall as he called out, "Young On- I mean Lucy, Lucy! What happened now?"

Taking advantage of this new opportunity of peace and quiet, I decided to close the room’s door. I looked at the bed with a blank expression. I then turned the knob on the wall and sure enough on Grappleoct’s word, the lamp light fades away. The room became much darker. It wasn’t total darkness surprisingly enough; I noticed a couple of small holes where light seemed to be coming in. It was pretty dim, but I could assume the light was either from above ground or from something else. At that point, I was too tired to care. 

I slowly moved toward the bed before toppling right onto it face first. It was a lot more softer than what I was used to. Finally laying on my side, I began to reflect on this long day. (“What went wrong?”) Before thinking of a possible answer to my own question, I drifted to sleep quicker than I expected.

###### 

###### 

As I slept, another dream invaded my subconscious. It was yet another lucid dream. The first sight that greeted me was a wash basin. I also noticed a pair of small bald hands, with the right hand being somewhat burnt at the palm.

“Ow…” a voice muttered. I recognized it as the same voice I heard before in the previous daydream. The view shifted itself upward to face a mirror. In the reflection, stood a small boy behind the basin. The blonde fur, or rather hair, on his head looked soaked, along with the garments he wore. 

When I gazed at this boy, I could only think of a singular word, human. I was raised with the idea that humans are figures of myths and fairy tales; the legendaries were told that the humans were from another world, another dimension. None of us on the lower end of the hierarchy knew exactly what they looked like; the most realistic depictions were long since destroyed and anything else tended to exaggerate features according to Reshiram. The most notable detail Reshiram told me about humans was that most humans were said to have bald bodies save for their heads. I never looked into these fairy tales; yet, here I was, watching one.

A mother’s voice caught the boy's attention. “Ohh Volant, you’re such a mess right now.” Feelings of sorrow began to stir within upon hearing the sound of the voice. The view turned to the left and showed a much taller human. This human had longer hair that reached her shoulders. The sight of her nearly caused me to tear up. The view covered itself in static right after she entered the room. However, the sad feelings did not disappear, in fact they amplified themselves.

When the static cleared up, I saw a Shinx laying on a small bed. It was no doubt the same Shinx this “Volant” boy rescued before. It was now bandaged and seemed to be resting. I could assume Volant was crouching while watching the youngling rest. The scene was peaceful, the opposite of how I was feeling. I tried to wake myself in a desperate attempt to avoid seeing that Shinx. 

Instead, my vision faded into darkness briefly before I found myself in a blurry and desolate empty space. There was a blurry light source above me, but I couldn’t tell what it was. The only object I could accurately make out was a large mirror to my right. Everywhere and anything else was either blurred or encased in total darkness. Unlike moments before, I could control the movements of my body. I glanced at own paws. (“Good, I'm in control of myself here.”)

I glanced at the mirror and moved toward it to get a better look at the blurry reflection. Instead of the expected Zeraora reflection, I saw Volant at eye level. (“I don’t remember the boy being this tall.”) Briefly forgetting the fact I was looking at a mirror, I leaned to the left; I was trying to get a better look at the human. However, Volant mimicked my movement exactly, even my surprised expression. This was nothing like my past dreams at all; this one felt far too real. (“Okay...calm down...it's just a dream...not real”)

I reached out with my right paw, only to find it was now bald like Volant’s hand. No, it _was_ Volant’s hand. The burn mark in my palm proved it; even the reflection had it. I made frantic glaces at my body, arms, and legs. I was enveloped in smoke. I felt my fur blowing away as this happened. I progressively felt more cold until my whole body was now like Volant, complete with the garments. I grasp my head, which had the smooth feeling of skin save for the hair on the top. I glanced back at the mirror, the reflection was still mimicking my movement. I became Volant somehow. A disturbing thought then entered my mind, (“I was a human, I am Volant”). I teared up more as I shook my head in denial.

A familiar soft-spoken voice sounded out from somewhere. It wasn’t Volant or anyone I knew for certain...or least I thought it wasn’t someone I recognized. “Volant, it’s time you remember,” the male voice said, “I will do as I promised in our deal.”

“Wait!” I shouted to the empty space behind me, “Who are you? Where are you? Why am I here?!?” There was no answer. 

I faced the mirror once more, only to find something new in addition to my reflection. It was...me? Or rather, I saw a Zeraora behind me, towering over me with the look of a predator. A shiver of fear consumed my body at the sight. I turned around to see this Zeraora glaring at me with malice-filled blue eyes.

The cat leaped at me within a split moment. It grabbed me and I felt an intense pain in my chest and neck. The attacker then slammed me into the mirror. Upon impact, shards of glass could be felt on my back as well as my head as my vision went black.

###### 

###### 

I awakened and snapped up in a cold sweat. I breathed heavily as I frantically glanced around the room. Nothing. The room remained as untouched as when I last saw it.

I placed a paw on my head. (“It was just...just...just a horrible nightmare...”) As I thought this, my head ached in pain. More images flashed in my mind. The dreams I experienced before began to connect themselves firmly as fact.

After the burst of flashbacks, I covered my mouth in horror as my eyes teared up. It finally hit my mind at long last. The dreams were all memories, the memories of Volant. They were _my_ memories. “I was…” I blurted, “I was, I am, I am h-” Despite my best and most forceful efforts, I couldn’t say the words at all.

Just after this realization, the world warped. The room twisted and stretched, leaving me in a drowsy, dizzy state where my vision was blurred. My whole body felt heavy, causing me to fall backwards onto the bed.

Laying helplessly on the bed, I turned my head; it was the only thing I could do in my state. Though subtle, the movement allowed me to see a figure, someone else in the room. Despite my blurry vision, I could tell it was someone with yellow fur and glowing blue eyes. Could it be the same Zeraora from before? Was the nightmare continuing? I then heard the figure speak with a masculine voice, but it was far too muffled to tell what words he was saying.

Once the figure finished saying whatever words he wanted, my eyelids forced themselves closed. My mind went blank into unconsciousness once again, leaving me at the mercy of my uninvited visitor.

### 

### 

###  **_Fragment of Knowledge:_ **

_Lucy (Soon to be Lugia the Fifth)_

**Status:** Soon-to-be In-Training (Sea/Oceanside Guardian)

 **Age:** 4 Myth-Years (42 Years)

> This 4 Myth-Year Lugia offspring is the soon-to-be heiress of the title of "Guardian of the Sea." She is rather rebellious and prone to making hot-headed decisions such as exploring Silspring's city districts alone. Insensitive folks, particularly among the higher ups, tend to nickname her "Five" as a result of this trouble-making reputation. Her current combat skills are undeveloped due to her lack of experience. The youngling's Gust attack pales in comparison to her parent's attacks in terms of power. Nowadays, she is cared for by two retainers assigned by Lugia himself.


End file.
